


Hearts

by TheCrazyFriend



Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: F/F, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Romantic Soulmates, Soulmates
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-08-04
Updated: 2019-02-11
Packaged: 2019-06-21 19:51:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 15
Words: 12,261
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15565200
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheCrazyFriend/pseuds/TheCrazyFriend
Summary: Maxine Mayfield and Jane Hopper share a lot in common





	1. Maxine

**Author's Note:**

> My first stranger things fanfic, enjoy:)

“Congratulations, Mr. and Mrs. Mayfield, its a girl!!”  
Maxine Mayfield was born and raised in a loving family, she was adored as an only child by her mother and father. Max was just another ordinary girl, an ordinary girl who happened to like arcades, skateboarding, and martial arts. That was until she was nine years old, she had collapsed in class a few days after her ninth birthday and was rushed to hospital in an ambulance after a terrified teacher called 911. “I'm sorry...” one of the doctors, a Doctor Owens, had whispered sadly to the teacher and Max's parents the latter of whom had arrived moments before the doctor had joined the teacher at Max's bedside.  
“What... what's wrong with my little girl?!” Susan Mayfield had shrieked loud enough to be heard the other side of the hospital yet the small girl didn't wake.  
“Maxine’s heart...” The doctor began  
“What's wrong with my baby's heart!!”  
“If you'll let me finish" he grumbled. Susan sighed and nodded, “we don't know what it is about her heart but it's not right” the doctor explained. “If I didn't know better I'd say she has the wrong heart but since that'd be impossible..."  
“The wrong heart, doctor, really?” Max's father scoffed  
“We need to keep her in for awhile"  
“To find out what's really wrong with her, doctor?”  
“Yes, Mr. Mayfield." The doctor himself had dismissed his gut feeling as impossible

“M... mommy?” Max stirred a few hours after her parents had met Dr. Owens, she was incredibly weak and was hooked up to a variety of medical equipment  
“Yes, Maxine, sweetheart?” Susan was by her side immediately  
“I don't feel so good” she mumbled, holding her hand up to her chest and grimacing. She hadn't felt pain like it before, a pain that extended outwards from her chest and went down her left arm. A dull ache that intensified when she tried to move. She looked around at the machines monitoring her vitals  
“Sweetheart you've had a heart attack" the redhead whispered to the girl in the hospital bed  
“A heart... attack? But that's an old person sickness, mommy?" Max whispered tiredly  
The doctor returned to the room. “Has Maxine here ever had a heart transplant?” He asked  
“No...” Susan began  
“It's Max!” Max exclaimed, grimaced then coughed, the sudden movement caused her chest pain to get momentarily worse  
“Max please don't interrupt”  
“Sorry, mommy"  
“It's okay... Max." Owens smiled at her from his seat, he knew that getting down to his patient's eye level would help make them feel more comfortable. "Well anyway Max is suffering from organ rejection but since she hasn't ever had a transplant it's unclear as to why"  
“My daughter was healthy she never had too many McDonalds’ or too much coca cola"  
“Don't worry I believe you" he agreed. “We are going to have to start her on medications immediately though, if we don't this could be the first heart attack of many. That and other consequences of the rejection"  
“I understand" Susan whispered  
“She also should have surgery"  
“What?!” She yelped  
“Is that strictly necessary?” Max's father asked  
“It is a precautionary measure"  
“So no it's not"  
“If you want her survival chances improved then yes it is"

“Tom, outside" Susan ordered and Max's dad reluctantly agreed. Max didn't hear what they discussed but the outcome was made clear, that the doctor and Susan had won whatever debate had been happening as Max was prepared for surgery. “We're all gonna be waiting here for you Max” her mom promised  
“I'm scared, mommy"  
“I know but everything is gonna be alright" Susan promised as a nurse put a mask over Max's face  
“Go to sleep" the nurse soothed and Max felt her eyes grow heavy from the anasthetic. “It's medicine to help you sleep” she explained. Max looked up at the worried faces of her parents one last time then her eyes closed, she had gone under while surrounded by the people she loved or more precisely, her parents


	2. Eleven

To Eleven, routine medical examinations were just that, routine, she hadn’t ever known any different. She didn't know that the routine medical exams that were run on her weekly served any other purpose than to check she was still healthy. Doctor Brenner furrowed his eyebrows in frustration having been looking at Eleven’s most recent medical, he was frustrated because no matter how hard he tried neither him nor his men could work out why Eleven had far less stamina than the other test subjects. When Eight had been Eleven's age, nine, she had been able to create and maintain a reasonably complex illusion for minutes without being so fatigued she was unable to continue, Eleven meanwhile could barely keep an object in the air for more than twenty seconds before nearly passing out. Even the bath, Eleven and Brenner's name for the sensory deprivation tank they used to find people and listen in, was too strenuous for Eleven after a mere five minutes. He sat back with a groan and slammed the binder of medical reports shut. “Dr Brenner" a voice came from outside his door along with an incessant banging as someone hammered on his door  
“It's open!!” Brenner yelled, having allowed his irritation to show at having been disturbed  
“Doctor Brenner, sir! It's Eleven... She collapsed" Ray looked Brenner in the eye  
“What do you mean?”  
“Exactly what I said"  
“Shit!” Brenner sighed, “if she dies we lose all the progress we have made and we might not be lucky enough to find another pregnant woman, especially after that bitch Terry Ives attempted to sue us”  
“I understand, Doctor" Ray nodded and led the way towards the room where Eleven had been practicing her telekinesis.  
“How hard were the men working her?”  
“Not nearly as hard as we worked Eight at the same age, Sir"  
“Eleven!” He moved to her side, “get a gurney!” He exclaimed  
Ray ran off to get a gurney as ordered, he returned moments later and lifted Eleven on to it while the other scientists stood around uselessly. “Doctor Brenner, what should we do now?”  
“Make yourself useful!” The reply was quick and harsh  
“With all due respect, it's not our fault she collapsed" one of the scientists had stated plainly. “She's weak compared to the others yet you continue to push forward with her"  
“She is a telekinetic, one of the very few we've been able to find" Brenner reminded them. Telekinetics were rather rare and they hadn't found any child capable of entering the void before Eleven.   
“I shouldn't need to remind you that...” the scientist stopped talking at Brenner's look  
“Eleven is a failure, Doctor Brenner" Ray eyed the girl who had defibrillator pads attached to her chest, her heart had given out. He suspected that it was because she was weak. Too weak to use her powers, therefore, a waste of their time and resources. He hoped it wasn't because of what he had been doing to her or at least he hoped that Brenner wouldn't figure it out, he didn't really care for the girl  
“M... maybe you're right" Brenner sighed, deep down, he had known for a while  
“Then I shall dispose of her?”  
Doctor Brenner, who had been standing next to Eleven's bed turned to the employees stood either side of Ray and nodded his head. “Y...”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry its short, I'm exhausted


	3. Older

“Max?”  
“Mmph?”  
“Come on, Maxine, you gotta get up”  
“I don't wanna”  
It had been two years since Max had her heart attacks and resulting surgery. She had returned to school a few weeks after her surgery and had quickly regained her former level of activity despite the regime of medication she had to take and the pacemaker implanted in her chest. “You have to go to school sweetie,” Susan rolled her eyes knowing that her daughter loved school if only the time she spent with her close-knit friendship group and it was something else that was making her reluctant to get up. “It's going to be okay, sweetie"  
“You don't know that mom" Max sat up and crossed her arms, concealing the scar on her chest from her surgery. Susan quickly grabbed Max under the arms and lifted her out of the bed much to the young girl's chagrin. “Mom!!” She protested  
“Get up Max”  
“Ugh, fine!!” She stood from where her mom had plonked her on the floor and made her way over to the bathroom to get ready

“He's not coming is he?” Max asked her mom while they were on their way to school  
“I don't know sweetheart"  
“Look who it is, it's MadMax the loony skateboarder"  
“Hey, Josafine"  
“MadMax"  
“Shut it, you" Max smirked and leaped out of the car into her friend's waiting arms. “Hey!! No cuddles before nine!”  
“Oh? You know you enjoy our cuddles" Josafine teased  
“Look it's the crazy school lezbo couple!” One of the ‘cool kids’ strolled past with a glance of derision at the two girls  
“Screw you, Alexander" Max replied coolly, she dropped her skateboard to the ground and flipped it so it landed on the boy’s foot  
“Ouch!” He yelped and hurried away  
“MaxMax, I was going crazy without you"  
“Oh yeah? JokerJosie... I'm a loon without you around” both girls erupted into giggles while Susan rolled her eyes and drove away, Max would be fine so long as she had Josafine. Max and Josafine had known each other since before they went to school and had been inseparable since they had met. The two girls had created nicknames for each other with a smile and a laugh. Max had become MadMax after the movie the older girl enjoyed as a reward for her being perfect in hospital, no getting up in the night and no skateboarding while she was supposed to be recovering. Josafine, the only girl at the time to know the truth about what had happened had been nicknamed JokerJosie by Max as she loved the Batman comics. “Where's Audrey?”  
“Right here you two!” Audrey was the third and final girl who made up their little group. Unlike the other two, she wasn't thought of as unusual, in fact, she liked things that girls were supposed to like. Despite that she had still become a good friend to the other two and had usually ended up involved in their schemes and, when they had been younger, pretend play. “You two still planning on sneaking out to the arcade this evening?” She whispered  
“MadMax?” Josafine turned to the auburn-haired girl who shrugged. “What's wrong sweetheart?” Josafine moved to Max's side and hugged her  
“Scar" Max whispered. While all the girls in Max's grade had caught sight of Max's scar in the changing rooms they didn't know of its significance. Audrey, who had visited Max whenever she was sick as well as having had a few sleepovers with the girls knew about the existence of Max's scar but very little else about it  
“Crap” Josafine replied  
“Have I missed something?” Audrey asked  
“Mmhmm" Josafine hummed an affirmative but waited for Max to nod before she dragged both girls by their arms to their secret little hiding place in the school playground. Max, Josafine, and Audrey always hid there when the Californian sun was too hot for them to be out in the open. 

“Audrey, you remember two years ago when Max was sick?” Audrey nodded, “she wasn't just sick, she was very sick and she had to have surgery and everything"  
“Oh MaxMax" Audrey looked down sadly  
“She has a hospital appointment later today  
“And I might not be up to doing much afterward"  
“Oh it's okay, Max”  
Max sighed and cuddled her two friends close, she truly would be lost without them


	4. Creatures

“Papa!!” Eleven shrieked. “Papa!!! No!! No!!” Eleven was being dragged towards the dark room to await her injection. Usually, the lab did not keep that many toxic chemicals and the drug that Brenner used to euthanize his failed test subjects had to be manufactured before it could be used  
“Shut it, Eleven!” Ray growled, forcefully grabbing Eleven's arm to harshly drag her the rest of the way to the room. He raised his fist to strike her and she screamed, raising her hand to defend herself, she lifted Ray and threw him back down the corridor with a shriek of fear, rage, and pain  
“Eleven!!” Brenner yelled and the girl ran. Ran from the man who had attempted to beat her and from the small dark room that inhabited her nightmares. Brenner grumbled to himself seeing Ray slumped against the wall, he hadn't seen Ray attempt to beat his daughter and so had no idea why Eleven had resorted to using her powers, something he usually had to work hard to encourage her to do whether it was through the use of threats or the promise of affection. 

Eleven’s bare feet hammered across the cold hard floor as fast as she could, she had been running for about two minutes and she could feel her chest tightening painfully. She didn't know that it was unusual for a girl her age to hardly be able to run for two minutes. She gasped for breath and staggered into the nearest room that was fortunately unlocked, looking around she saw where she was, the bathroom, where the sensory deprivation tank stood tall and imposing. Eleven slowly advanced up the stairs to the top of the tank, she had slid the shield shut and was planning to hide inside the tank from Ray, Brenner and anyone else who came looking for her. Eleven wasn't overly fond of the bath but she was desperate to evade the men who had so often hurt her. She opened the top of the tank and clambered in.  
“Where the hell is she?” Brenner asked  
“I have no idea, Doctor" Ray replied  
“Shit. Lock the building down and _find her_!” The order had been given and so Ray organized search parties

“No...” Eleven whimpered, the pull of the sensory deprivation tank had been getting stronger on her subconscious. She felt her surroundings fade and she found herself in the cold dark empty void. She looked around after looking down at her reflection in the water beneath her feet. Eventually, she caught sight of something that wasn't normal, a strange creature that Eleven hadn't ever seen before, a strange creature that was stood before a large egg-like object. She cautiously moved towards it, the words of her papa ringing in her ears, ‘nothing can hurt you in the void’. She reached out and cautiously poked the creature. Much to her terror, the creature reacted, it turned towards her and its face opened up with an unearthly shriek and slashed at her with its gigantic claws. Eleven shrieked in terror, screaming for the one man she knew would be there for her, “PAPA!! PAPA!!” She shrieked before instinctively lifting her hand to protect herself from the creature as it advanced on her, the creature flew back but there was also a rumble as the lab around the tank disintegrated, glass shattered, instruments fell from where they had been stored and a huge crack appeared in the wall, an interdimensional portal to a strange world. Eleven felt the tank around her shatter and though she didn't know it, she was lucky not to be impaled by one of the many large shards of glass as she had been carried to the wall by the force of the water . 

Brenner and the others had heard the commotion and felt the tremors from the lab beneath their feet, they rushed down to the lab where they found the devastation that Eleven had caused in the lab, though the nine-year-old was nowhere in sight. “What the fuck is it?” Brenner had asked the other assembled scientists regarding the newly formed crack in the wall, through which a gooey looking red substance could be seen  
“We have no idea, sir"  
“Put this floor on quarantine and _find Eleven_. It seems like we underestimated her ability"  
“So you don't want her to be euthanized anymore?”  
“No. We have a lot of catchup work to do"


	5. Appointment

“Maxine Mayfield?”  
“Ugh! How many times do I have to tell them it's not Maxine!!”  
“Calm down, Max. They're doctors, they always use your full name" Susan stood and held out her hand for her daughter. Reluctantly, Max stood and followed her mom out of the ghastly colorful pediatric waiting area that Max hated so much. As far as she was concerned, hospital walls were not things that should be colorful, instead, they should be as bland and as sterile as everything else in the hospital was. Color made it seem _too_ happy and joyous  
“Max. Mrs. Mayfield" Owens was waiting for them by his office after two of the nurses had taken Max’s blood pressure and weight. “What?” He asked when Max gave Susan a smirk  
“I'm fed up of the nurse people using my full name" Max stated to Owens  
“Ah, right"  
“Yeah, you lot call me Maxine but you don't call my mom Susan Mayfield"  
Owens sighed, “fine, Max, I'll see what I can do.” He turned to his notes and began reading. “So, Max, anything new?”  
“No, it's all okay as far as I'm aware"  
“Well we've booked you in for some tests"  
“Tests? What kind of tests?” Max was suddenly nervous

“Sorry I'm late!!” a voice called after knocking on the door and entering  
“JokerJosie?!”  
“I thought it'd help calm your nerves if you had a friendly face here" Owens explained. “That and I'm leaving California soon”  
“Y... You are?” Susan stuttered  
“I'm afraid so"  
“MadMax" Josafine whispered, a caring smile on her face  
“I'm sorry I made you come all the way out here"  
“I'd rather spend my time with you, MadMax”  
“I'd rather you did too”  
Owens smiled at the two girls then clapped his hands together. “Right, to business! First, we have to get an X-ray then we have a few other scans to run but you'll be sedated before we start those. Okay, Max let's get you to your bed”  
“I'm not staying in am I?”  
“I hope not" Owens turned to the red-haired girl and observed her intelligent eyes watching him  
“What will I be doing?”  
“Josafine, you'll be doing the most important job of them all... keeping Max calm and settled” Owens smiled at her. “Can you do that for me?”  
The girl nodded eagerly, Owens led the three to a ward and closed the curtains so Max could change. Josafine stayed with her at Max's insistence. 

“I see what you meant, Mrs. Mayfield, they really are inseparable" Owens chuckled at Susan's head bob that served as her reply  
“Ready” Max called, she was wearing a hospital gown and resting against Josafine with a small yet satisfied smile. Owens could already tell that it would be a far less bumpy ride for Max with Josafine there  
“We're going to insert your IV now, Max” Owens frowned with concern when the girl looked away as the nurse approached her and began to place the IV catheter  
“Ow!” Max yelped, had it not been for Josafine's hand resting on Max’s arm she would've tugged her arm back and dislodged her IV  
“Sorry, Max” the nurse whispered and secured the catheter to Max’s arm  
Max pouted but Josafine wrapped her arms around Max which soothed the other girl. “MadMax” Josafine smiled calmly and gently  
“Mmhm, JokerJosie?” Max mumbled with a lazy smile  
“You're adorable"  
“I am?” Max replied sleepily  
“Yup”

“Max, it's time for your x-ray"  
“Comfy" she mumbled, resting up against Josafine with a lazy smile. She was reluctant to move from her comfy Josafine shaped pillow


	6. Discovery

“Doctor Brenner, look at these” Ray barged into Martin Brenner's office without knocking. Not even a few days before would he have dared enter his office without knocking but this was too important to wait even those few seconds  
“What is it, Ray?”  
“This child in this case study, her heart does not match up with that of her body" Ray handed over some medical case studies  
“Oh?” Brenner was suddenly incredibly interested. With the recent availability of new testing methods, Brenner and his team had begun to be able to explore new avenues of investigation regarding Eleven’s sickness. They had discovered evidence that had simultaneously relieved and worried the scientific team, they had become worried by the implications of the test results but relieved that they had found a possible explanation as to why Eleven was unable to perform in their experiments to the same standard as previous test subjects.  
“The DNA tests of this child conclusively prove that her heart is different to the rest of her body on a DNA level though it isn't known how this was possible  
“Excellent work, Ray, well done" Brenner nodded and gave a rare smile. He knew how important it was for him to get ahold of the actual test results, consequently, he turned to his phone and picked it up

Eleven led on a hospital bed, tied down and semi-sedated a few weeks after the crack in the wall was opened. “Papa" she slurred having remained sedated for awhile until Brenner could be sure she wouldn't run off again. The entirety of the basement complex had been deemed a biohazard and had been sealed off from the rest of the lab under Brenner's orders, though teams of scientists were sent in in full hazmat suits to study the phenomenon in great detail. Ray had suggested using the same electroshock treatment on Eleven as they had used on other victims. Brenner had reluctantly agreed and ordered the use of the electric shocks against the child.  
“Don't be scared, Eleven, you're sick and everything will be alright" Eleven had been in a state of near hysteria since she created the crack in the lab wall, she calmed somewhat at the sight of Brenner but not as much as she used to. “Do it" he demanded  
Ray put the electrodes either side of Eleven's head, ready to be used. “Ready”  
“One twenty"  
Ray nodded and turned the dial down from where it had been left the previous time the device was used, four fifty. “One twenty" Ray confirmed then returned his attention to the electrodes. Another scientist pressed the switch to trigger the shocks. Eleven's muscles tightened as one, the electricity causing involuntary contractions. Eleven screamed and the lights flickered for a moment. Ray released the button after about twenty seconds, “the electricity should have passed through the part of her brain responsible for her memories"

“P... papa" Eleven groaned, looking for the man wearily. She was incredibly weak after the electric shocks. The fourth man in the room backed away, he had been holding defibrillator pads in case Eleven's weakened problematic heart had stopped.  
“I'm here, Eleven. Today, you rest, tomorrow, we get back to work"  
“Yes, Papa” Eleven reached out for him but he was already gone. Ray picked her up and carried her roughly back to her room, in a way it was a test. If Eleven threw him or tried to get away then her memories were intact, else they weren't. Eleven did neither and led docile in Ray's arms all the way back to her room. He chuckled to himself with a small smile, tying the girl down once again

*****

“Do you understand what you need to do?” Brenner asked a man whose face was concealed in half darkness  
“Yes, Doctor Brenner"  
“Good. Fortunately, the seeds of doubt already exist in that... family" he spat the word  
“It will be easier for me to tear it apart then"  
“Precisely. You know that time is of the essence, we need to test the child’s DNA, else Eleven might die"  
“Yes, I understand, Doctor Brenner"  
“Then go... your flight to California leaves in a few hours”


	7. Broken family

“What do you mean dad doesn't want to live with us anymore?” Max sounded furious though it was only a shield to hide her true emotions, sadness, regret, and _fear_. She thought it was _her_ fault that her dad no longer wanted to continue seeing her or even knowing her  
“You know your dad stopped coming to appointments?”  
“Yeah, and Josie came along instead. It was nice and Josie is my bestest friend in the whole wide world but it would've been nice to have him come as well"  
“Well he was with another woman while you were at the hospital"  
“No... not dad, he wouldn't have!!”  
“I'm sorry sweetheart I caught him at it"  
“Let me see my dad!! I'll ask him myself!”  
“You can't, he did a runner, Max”  
“He... ran away?” Max curled in on herself  
“I'm sorry Maxxie"  
“Please don't call me that, mom"  
“I always used to call you that”  
“Yeah well I'm not seven anymore, I'm twelve! Besides, I'm saving that for when I meet that special person"  
“Oh, Max have you found someone?!” Susan was excited despite the news she knew she would eventually have to break to her daughter  
“No"  
“Oh" Susan was disappointed but in a way it made what she had to say a little easier. “Max, I... I uh"  
“Mom?” Max had never heard her mom stutter before  
“I've met a man, his name is Neil Hargrove and... we've been dating"  
Max turned around and slammed the door in her mom's face though Susan was convinced she heard a strangled and suppressed sob over the door slamming. “Max!!” Susan called to no answer. “Dammit!” She exclaimed and turned to leave, only one person could sort out a mess that big. Sure enough, all it took was one phone call and they were knocking on the door two minutes later.  
“MadMax?” A gentle voice called quietly through the door  
“Huh?” Max rolled off her bed and moved to the door to unlock it, "JokerJosie??"

*****

Good evening, Mr. Mayfield"  
“What? Who are you and where's my family?!” Tom Mayfield attempted to stand up but found himself tied to a chair  
“My name is not something you should concern yourself with, and as for your family, they're happier without you. They know you've been cheating with another woman"  
“I have not!!!”  
“Well this video footage proves otherwise" the man pressed play on a TV and the VHS played, showing what the man had said to be true  
“THAT'S NOT ME!! IT IS FAKE!!”  
“I know, I know, Mr. Mayfield, but your wife, ahem, excuse me, ex and daughter don't need to know that, do they?”  
“What do you want?!” He snapped  
The man punched him in the stomach, “Manners!!” He bellowed, “respect and responsibility!!” He glowered angrily at the other man, “as for what I want, it's simple. I will have what I want soon enough, and as for what I need, that comes as part of the package deal.” The man smiled at Tom Mayfield and he shivered, the man's smile was one of pure malice  
“What are you going to do to my family!?”  
“Nothing, don't you worry Mr. Mayfield, everything will be alright, everything will go fine. Now, go to sleep.” The man jabbed Tom Mayfield with a needle and injected a clear substance  
“Help!!” He screamed but soon felt himself fading  
“See you around, Mr. Mayfield" The evil man stood and looked at himself in the mirror to check he didn't have any blood on his clothes. He stood and left the dingy room and the dilapidated house, heading back towards civilization. “Tonight" he nodded to himself, smiling

*****

It was a few days before Susan told Max that she and Neil would be marrying then moving away from California to a small town in the middle of nowhere, Hawkins. Max pushed past her mom and stormed straight out of the house. She was blinking back tears and not really paying attention to where she walked though eventually she found herself on Josafine's doorstep and immediately upon the door opening she threw herself at Josafine and cried on her shoulder for most of the night


	8. Escape

Brenner’s plan to sort out Eleven's heart problem was in tatters, the girl had escaped and had gotten out of the lab when the faceless... thing had burst through into the lab. It tore its way through the fleshy skin that covered the tear in the wall and in reality and ripped the temporary plastic cover put over the tear to attempt to prevent the toxic environment from gaining a foothold in the lab. Eleven had taken one look at it and bolted out of the room and somehow was able to get out of the lab. The lab guards, scientists and even its agents, those that survived, were all on the hunt for the young girl. Brenner slammed his office door shut in a rare display of emotion soon after he had been given the news that Eleven had escaped. “Shit!" 

*****

Eleven had staggered away from the lab, climbing her way up the ventilation shaft had taken a lot out of her and she had barely made it to the edge of town, her legs had given way underneath her. When she had woken she found herself indoors and face to face with a big man who called himself Benny. Benny had given her food and water. She had smiled at the man only to be interrupted by a knock on the door, he had told her he would get rid of them but when she heard the silent whump and a thud she knew what had happened. Eleven's eyes widened when she peeked around the corner to see Benny on the floor, a red blood stain on the wall and glass indicating what had happened. The woman who had shot Benny turned to look at the door and the man from Eleven's dreams or rather nightmares walked in, her Papa. Eleven froze for a moment then ran towards the back of the building where she was cornered by two men with tazers. Having no choice, Eleven used her powers against the two men and they fell to the floor with quickly silenced cries of pain and surprise. Eleven turned to the door she had come in through and left again before Brenner or the woman could get to the back room

*****

Several hours after Eleven had narrowly avoided capture at Benny's Burgers she heard a rustle and the sounds of voices near where she was resting. It was raining, a novel experience for Eleven though the novelty of the experience was somewhat spoilt by the coldness that had always been a constant companion for her throughout her life since she had been a baby. The lab had always been cold and Eleven had hoped that whatever was awaiting her outside the sterile bland rooms of the place she had unknowingly called home would be warm like her bed or the sensory deprivation tank. “You hear that?” a stranger's voice came from somewhere near to where Eleven was, she had stood, rain ran down her face and her massive shirt and the hospital gown underneath it were so waterlogged they wouldn't absorb any more water. She turned, preparing to run once again and found herself face to face with three boys, two pale skinned like her Papa and one dark skinned like one or two of the lab workers  
“Holy shit"  
Eleven's brows furrowed in confusion, she hadn't ever heard that particular set of words before. She stared at the three boys and they stared back at her in confusion

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, now this story is at the end of S1E1, what should I do, continue with the story or skip through some of it?


	9. Detective work

Max had long since resigned herself to the inevitable, her ‘family' would be moving to Hawkins and taking her with them, she had long since given up on trying to convince her mom and step-father to let Josafine's parents adopt her so she could remain with her girl-friend and knew it was only a matter of time before a house came up for sale in the boring-sounding small town in the middle of nowhere. She had been sat on the beach with her two best friends for most of the day, Josafine and Audrey who had been acting understandably clingy towards their best friend. Max had, ever since Susan had broken the news about them moving, spent every free moment around either Josafine or Audrey's house, she had returned for the wedding as was expected of her but that was the longest time she had spent with her family. She thought her mom was a fool, her step-brother a dickhead and her step-father was pretty much the personification of every vile aspect of human nature. Neil was aggressive, he was homophobic, he was racist, he was sexist, he expected a meal to be ready for him when he arrived home from work, he expected all the cooking and cleaning to be done for him. Furthermore, he expected the other man in the house, namely Billy to have interest in men things like cars, engineering, and all the women, namely Susan and Max to have interests that align with the stereotypes of women, flower arranging, gardening, being a housewife and men. Neil had attempted to stop Max using her skateboard at first but had become resigned to her being a skater, Susan had made the excellent point of it saved them buying her a bike.   
Max was led in bed at Josafine's when her best friend waved a newspaper in front of her, “Hawkins has managed to get itself into the newspaper" she stated and handed the newspaper to the redhead  
“Oh really? How does a shitty place like that get in the news...?” She read the headline several times, “this headline is ancient, dumbass!” Max exclaimed in exasperation. “Dr. Martin Brenner named in the lawsuit? Missing child called Jane? Josafine, where did you get all this stuff??”  
“I thought it might be a good idea to research the town you're heading into, yanno just in case it's like that other town, the one with the clown in it"  
“Oh yeah maybe but this Brenner works in Hawkins?”  
“Yup, _Hawkins_ National Laboratory” Josafine confirmed  
“The woman's claim was bullshit" a third voice exclaimed  
“Audrey!” Max had leaped into the air in surprise   
“But what if it wasn't?” Josafine challenged  
“Then I could be heading into deep shit” Max mumbled  
“Oh, MadMax!!”

“I picked this up on my way here” Audrey whispered, she handed the newspaper to Max.   
“First disappearances and suicide in many years in small-town Hawkins?”  
“Keep reading”  
“The death and disappearances in small-town Hawkins, Indiana, the location of the infamous Hawkins National Laboratory have shocked the community. Benny Hammond's death was ruled a suicide by Hawkins Police Department, the first in twenty-two years and the two disappearances, sixteen-year-old Barbara Holland and twelve-year-old William Byers are the first of their kind in six decades. Hawkins National Laboratory was the institution sued by Terry Ives for the loss of her daughter, Jane though the claims were thrown out due to lack of evidence. Doctor Brenner, the director of the Laboratory at the time of Terry Ives' lawsuit remains director of the laboratory..." Max looked up at her two friends, “Oh, shit"  
“Exactly" Josafine turned to Audrey, “Are you still not at all worried about our best friend?”  
“That bloke looks creepy" Audrey admitted, pointing at Brenner, “and what's with all the hospital gowns?”  
“They were all part of mind control experiments... and look at this!” Josafine placed several newspapers next to each other, confirming that the Brenner was the same man and showing that Terry Ives was indeed involved in MKUltra. “if you look real close... you can almost see the bump on one of the women, this one who looks almost identical to Terry Ives from” she put another newspaper down on top of them, “the Terry Ives who lost her daughter!”  
“Shit, you're right, Josafine!”  
"Doesn't Neil work for the government?" Audrey asked quietly  
"He never said"  
Audrey turned to Max and held out a piece of paper with 'Department of Energy' printed across the top. "FUCK!!"  
"Language, Josafine!" A voice echoed from below.   
“Whatever was written on this letter was burned" Audrey whispered while indicating the blackened bottom of the strip of paper, “but it was in Neil's office at his house"  
“And here we were thinking you _weren't_ a rebel, Audrey" Josafine chuckled  
“For family, there isn't anything I wouldn't do, JokerJosie. You and MadMax _are_ my family"


	10. The Weirdo

Eleven led on her side in a cozy feeling den in the basement of one of the boys' houses, the boy who had chosen to help her had taught her a new concept, privacy. Privacy was something she hadn't even realized existed, she had been either with someone or on camera at all times in the lab. He had also given her dry clothes and even a name. The clothes that she was led in, a pair of pants and a sweater were more suitable to the cold and wet weather of winter than the hospital gown she had always worn and smelled of the boy. This boy, Mike, short for Michael was nothing like the cruel men Eleven had known her entire life, he actually seemed to care. The other two, however, hadn't warmed to the idea of her sticking around despite Mike's insistence that they should do what they could to help her. ‘The Weirdo' was what they had kept calling her and the one with dark skin had tried to scare her several times. Thunder rumbled loudly outside the house as Eleven led there alone. She had been overwhelmed by the other two boys as she did not know a lot of the words they had thrown at her while they were interrogating her about concepts she didn't understand, _‘having cancer?’ is cancer a pet?_ She asked herself, she had had a pet cat when she had been in the lab, that was until she refused to kill it and the bad men had shot it anyway. What does deaf mean? _And what was that Penn-thing they mentioned??_ Eleven's line of questioning thoughts were interrupted by yet another rumble of thunder that had her squeaking in fear and burying her head deeper into the blankets that Mike had placed over her skinny form. She hadn't ever heard thunder before but had found herself stuck outside in the deafening booms and blinding flashes of light which had quickly overwhelmed the girl. She was about to turn around and try to return to the lab again since she had decided that the outside world wasn't really for her, it was too big, too loud, too cold and too scary, when the boys had found her and dragged her with them to the warm and dry basement she found herself in. She whimpered and curled in on herself

Next thing Eleven knew was it was quiet and light outside, she must have fallen asleep at some point in the night, most likely after the storm had abated and she liked how quiet the world was, it was peaceful if a bit cold. “Mike” she whispered, testing the word out on her lips, soon there was a noise from behind the blanket that acted as a curtain and she had to resist the urge to peek out remembering that Mike didn't live alone and had instead sat fiddling with... something. She didn't know what it was until the blanket was lifted and he spoke to her, “hey, you found my supercomm!” Eleven looked up at him with trusting eyes. He spoke some more then eventually said something that grabbed her attention immediately, “got you breakfast.” He handed something to her, it was round and warm so she took a little nibble to see what it was like. The taste of the round thing was like nothing she had ever tasted in her life, cold bread and water was what she was used to so the crunchy yet sweet and sticky round thing had made her eyes widen. Mike waited patiently until she had finished before outlining his plan to get her some help. “And my mom will know who to call” he finished explaining after a few moments  
“No"  
“No?”  
“No.” She spoke with conviction she hadn't realized she had.  
“You don't want me to get help"  
“No"  
“You're in trouble” it was more a statement than a question, Eleven nodded and pointed a finger gun at Mike's head knowing full well he didn't deserve any of it yet to her surprise he did not kick her out back into the cold nor did he go against his word and tell his parents. He simply mentioned needing to go to school and he had disappeared off upstairs at yelling from upstairs. 

Eleven didn't know what school was nor how long Mike would be at that place but he was back surprisingly quickly, showing her the bathroom again and waiting patiently for her to finish in there, he had insisted she had a warm bath and had prepared the tub for her. After her bath, Mike led Eleven upstairs to the rest of the house and giving her a quick tour. She had grown tired after climbing two lots of stairs and walking around the kitchen and living room so she sat down on Mike's bed for a little bit her breaths coming in raspy gasps while Mike waited patiently for her. After a few moments, she had gotten to her feet again and had moved over to the photographs in which she recognized a boy she hadn't ever seen before. Will. Eleven and Mike were just returning downstairs to get more food for her since she was still very weak when the door opened and a voice could be heard, Mike dragged her back upstairs unceremoniously and put her in a small closet which was dark and reminded her of the dark room in which she had been locked in for many hours at a time, alone and scared. She had been able to briefly ponder the new word she had learned, ‘promise' before the flashbacks had set in, flashbacks of her ‘Papa' watching a girl who was desperate to make him smile and show her affection being dragged away kicking and screaming by two guards because she hadn't made him smile. Crushing the can had been easy but the young girl felt as if the task he had set her crossed a line. 

Eleven didn't know how long she was in the closet for but Mike opened the door and immediately saw she was in tears. “Are you okay?” He asked.  
She had nodded, “promise” she had added, immediately Mike had accepted it and that underlined how sacred promises were to Mike. 

Later that day, Dustin and Lucas returned to Mike's house and entered his room, they had been talking about ‘The Weirdo’ all day and how Mike's non-appearance at school was a foreboding warning that his plan hadn't worked and that ‘The Weirdo' had been discovered by Mike's mom, Karen. “No!” Dustin had exclaimed, “I've gotten a bad feeling about this!”  
“I thought she was going to talk to your mom?”  
Mike shook his head “she's in trouble and she knows about Will”  
“Trouble? What kind of trouble? If you know about Will, TELL US!”  
“Trouble, trouble” Mike lifted a finger gun to both of the boys, at which the one without teeth just stood there and the one with a different color skin hit his hand away  
“No! No! No! No! I say go back to plan A, we're telling your mom!”

Eleven felt an uncontrollable build up of fear and she knew what she had to do, as the black boy pulled the door open she lowered her head and gave the door an almighty shove with her mind, causing it to slam shut. Naturally, the boy backed away some then shook his head as if it wasn't real, he then pulled the door open again and she gave it another shove. “No.”  
“Holy shit!” the curly haired boy exclaimed, the door had slammed shut again  
“El's in trouble with bad men," Mike said it with difficulty having been staring at Eleven with his mouth hanging open some  
“El?”  
“El is short for Eleven"  
“Eleven?”  
Mike nodded. “It was the only name I was able to get out of her. El, meet Dustin and Lucas, our Bard and Ranger, I'm the Party's Paladin”  
“What kind of parent names their kid a number?” Lucas mumbled  
“The bad kind, Lucas”  
Lucas was silent for a while, “so what are we gonna do?”  
“Keep her safe, and find Will!”  
Both boys nodded. “So....”  
“Boys, food!!”  
“Shit"  
“El, stay here!”  
Eleven nodded and the boys went off downstairs

Eleven was still sat on Mike's nice comfortable and warm looking bed twenty minutes later, having gotten bored, she stood and moved cautiously towards the door. Inching it open she slipped out of Mike's room and crept downstairs. She realized as she descended the stairs that she would be seen but as she was already halfway down there was no option but to continue. Fortunately, Mike saw her first and Dustin hit the table a few times to distract from Mike choking on his milk. “Sorry, spasm" Dustin explained his action away, by that time Eleven had passed the kitchen and was already on her way down to the basement. Mike and the other two looked at each other in relief  
“What's with you three tonight?” Nancy asked  
“Nothing" Mike replied, trying to keep his tone neutral  
“You're acting weird"  
“So are you, I meant to ask you earlier, when is your next test on human anatomy?”  
“Screw you too, Mike"  
“Language!!”  
“Can we be excused?” Mike asked to a nod from Lucas and a glare from Dustin  
“Sure...?” Karen smiled and nodded  
The three boys jumped up and tried to look as if they weren't hurrying towards the basement

“El?” Mike called once he was certain that Lucas had shut the door, “El, it's just us, some meatloaf and no parents"  
“We wouldn't have pissed you off if we knew you had superpowers!”  
“What Dustin means to say is that they're sorry"  
Dustin nodded, “so what else can you do? I bet you can make shit float!!” He held out a Star Wars model in front of her so she could lift it  
“What now?” Lucas inquired, “we can't risk sneaking off again"  
“I know"  
“Wait... what's the weirdo doing?”  
Eleven had sat down at the table where the boys played Dungeons and Dragons and was staring at the board. “Will" she indicated Will's character figure once she flipped the board and put it on the upside down. “Hiding"  
“Will is hiding? Hiding from what?” Mike asked and Eleven slammed another figure down on the board, a Demogorgon. The boys all looked at one another in concern and Mike took the lead, “we can go out tomorrow and find Will. Operation Mirkwood"  
Dustin and Lucas nodded, “we'll bring supplies for the mission”  
“We have AV club tomorrow, that'll give us a few hours for operation Mirkwood"  
“Kids!” Karen called down the stairs, “time to go home!”

Once Dustin and Lucas had left, Mike returned downstairs and sat in the fort while Eleven had a shower in the downstairs bathroom. “Goodnight, El” he whispered after tucking her in  
Eleven once again led on her side, trying her hardest not to fall asleep for fear that the bad memories would return  
Mike led upstairs thinking about the lonely girl led alone in his basement, the perfect pretty girl who he admired and finally, he admitted to himself that he liked her

Mike and the other boys thundered down into the basement, finding that Eleven was still asleep in the blanket fort. “Morning, El" Mike exclaimed brightly  
“Morning" she mumbled sleepily, taking the eggos Mike was holding out for her  
“What do you guys have?” Mike asked referring to the bags both had slung over their back  
Lucas was the first to go, taking each item out and describing them, “bandana, from nan, knife, also from nan"  
“The wrist rocket?! You're gonna fight the Demogorgon with a wrist rocket?!” Dustin scoffed  
“Well, what do you have?”  
Dustin took out a huge bag of candy, at the others' incredulous look hee exclaimed, “we need energy for our travels!!”

Mike and the others had to leave for school and Mike told El to stay in the basement until 3:15 at which time she should meet the boys by the power lines. Eleven nodded and curled back up under her warm blankets. She eventually emerged from her fort once she was sure that Mike's parents, she didn't know their names and went upstairs to have another look around the house. She settled on watching TV for a while, unfortunately, the TV commercial triggered a flashback of the lab, a flashback of Eleven sitting with her usual EEG equipment on while she struggled to crush a can. Eleven reeled back from the TV, using her powers to short it out and promptly collapsing in a heap


	11. Runaway

“Mom, I need to go to a place called Illinois, there's someone in one of the cities there that I gotta go speak to”  
“Oh for the love of god, don't be ridiculous, Josafine! You can't go to Illinois!”  
“But mom it's incredibly important that I go!”  
“Why?”  
“I can't tell you" Josafine mumbled  
“There are no secrets in this household, Josafine!!”  
“If you won't take me, I'll go by myself!!” Josafine glared at her mom, “I've been saving my pocket money and doing a lot of jobs to help people in the neighborhood! I should have enough to get a plane there!”  
“I forbid it”  
“I'll take the grounding"  
“I won't let you see Max”  
“I’m going to MadMax's, _I hate you_ " with those last three words Josafine stormed out of the room and off to Audrey's house

“That's the only way, Josafine?”  
“I'm sorry, Audrey. It is the only way, I have to get going before mom calls it in to the pigs, I told her I'm going to Max's but you never know Max might call to ask if I can go to hers”  
“You trust me to look after _your_ MadMax, I am honored"  
Josafine quickly pecked Audrey's cheek, “I'll see you soon, Audrey. If anyone asks where I am, tell them you haven't seen me!”  
“Bye, JokerJosie" Audrey wiped her cheeks of her tears  
“This isn't goodbye, Audrey, this is merely a see you soon. But if the worst does happen and people work out what I'm up to, if I don't come back swear to me that you won't let Hargrove take Max anywhere?”  
“I swear it. On my life and on Max's, I swear I'll stop him taking her"  
“I'll see you soon" Josafine jumped out of the window and waved as she ran around behind another building and out of sight.  
“Holy shit she wasn't joking, she's going to Illinois.” Audrey turned away from her window and plopped down on her bed, worry slowly ebbing away at her formerly good mood. _What would happen if she gets caught by the Hawkins bad men? What happens if she meets Bauman whoever that is and they prove her right? Should I tell her parents?_

“You wouldn't believe that sister of yours, Jessica"  
“Mmm, what's Josafine done this time, spray paint the walls of the school again?”  
“She wanted to go to Illinois!!”  
“Really?? Why?”  
“She refused to tell me, she wanted to meet someone"  
“Isn't thirteen a little too young to be _meeting people?”_  
“She's only just thirteen"  
“Thirteen is thirteen, mom. Besides I thought she was interested in Maxine?”  
“I guess?” Josafine's mom sat down at the table, “I'd better call Susan and see what time she'd like me to pick Josafine up”  
“Sure, mom"

Josafine had timed it perfectly, she had left Audrey's house and hurried to the airport by means of a bus, paying for her ticket with two thirds of the money she had raised and she hurried on to the plane moments before boarding finished, her return ticket would have to be paid for with some of her life savings. “Phew," she breathed and settled herself down for the flight, she would go as far as she could on the plane then get a coach the rest of the way or hitchhike, she smirked at the music playing in the airport, runaway by Bon Jovi. _How appropriate_ She thought with a shit eating grin on her face. Josafine was determined to get to Illinois where she knew a man lived, a former investigative journalist who seemed to have written a great number of articles about her least favorite subject, Hawkins. She had been incredibly busy doing jobs in yards in her neighborhood and while some cheapskates had only given her five dollars for her work, others had been incredibly generous including, in what she thought was an ironic twist of fate, Neil Hargrove. He alone gave her ninety dollars for the various jobs she had done while Max was napping, _clearly trying to carry favor with my MadMax_. Josafine, seething and sickened, threw up when she returned to her house later that evening. Over a few days, Josafine had gathered the money she needed and then some, moving her plan into its final stage she used a tape voice recorder to alter the sound of her voice and called the man on the number she had. He hadn't been very enthusiastic to meet but eventually consented to do so. He agreed to meet her. 

“Hey, Susan it's Lucy”  
“Oh hi, Lucy, what can I do for you? Did you know Josafine has been a little angel and did so many jobs around the yard and house that Neil gave her ninety dollars?”  
“No, she never told me. I was just wondering when do you want me to come over and pick her up?”  
There was an agonizing pause, “I'm sorry, Lucy, but Josafine isn't here right now... Max has been pestering me to call you to ask if she wanted to come over"  
“Oh shit"


	12. Investigations

Eleven had woken up moments before 3:15 and had to hastily clamber through a window to head out towards the power lines, still afraid to use the front door in case she was caught by Mike's parents. She had momentarily thought she would be caught as there was indeed someone outside the front door but had left before Karen and Holly had been able to open the door. Five minutes later she stood waiting by the power lines and her attention had fallen on a nearby cat which, seemingly sensing the threat she posed began to hiss and spit at her. Eleven was confused, why would a cat show such an intense reaction to her like the first one had in the lab, she hadn't ever met the cat before and she didn't think cats would have any such knowledge. Then again she had been surprised by the cat in the lab, she had been the one to feed it and show it affection, therefore, she had been stunned by the perceptiveness of the cat that was in a cage and had been sentenced to death by Brenner. It seemed to know that Eleven was a threat, somehow. The cat she had met was enough to throw Eleven into a flashback of the day that Eleven had been ordered to kill her own pet by snapping its neck with her powers, or some similarly effective killing method. Brenner had been trying to teach her how to efficiently kill without exhausting herself by overdoing it with her powers, Brenner had been raising that cat for slaughter without Eleven’s knowledge. She had become trapped in the memory, of facing down the cat, of trying to focus, of her blatant refusal and the consequences of doing so. The consequences being the small dark room that haunted not only her nightmares but her flashbacks and daydreams as well, the innocent girl didn't yet know that the man she called 'Papa' would be considered to be pure evil by most people in the wider world and didn't care at all about her wellbeing, only about her abilities and she genuinely thought she had been a bad girl for not killing the cat yet for some reason she just couldn't bring herself to do it. She was not yet able to see that Brenner was the bad one and that she was just a child, a terrified, traumatized, abused child. Once the guards had dragged her to the isolation room Eleven’s fear had peaked, she hated that room with a passion, it was almost completely dark as well as colder and even more silent than the rest of the lab with a small bloodstain in one corner. She had often wondered what had left that bloodstain but hadn't ever asked Brenner, afraid of the repercussions of doing so as well as fearful of what the truth could be. Eleven was shoved aggressively into the isolation room by one of the two guards, she didn't know their names and probably never would but instead of accepting her punishment she reached out with her mind and jerked her head, forcing the door open with an almighty shove that would otherwise be impossible for her frail tiny body while they attempted to shut it and throwing one of them back into the opposite wall with a sickening but satisfying crunch while the second advanced on her fumbling with his tazer. Eleven merely jerked her head again and snapped the man's neck, killing him instantly. Brenner, having heard the commotion had gone to investigate. He found two guards dead and Eleven scared and weakened by the sudden excessive use of her powers, Brenner immediately admitted to himself he was slightly surprised as well as impressed, he hadn't expected the isolation room being the catalyst to unlocking her ability to break bones and therefore kill efficiently. Regardless of the two dead guards, Brenner took her into his arms gently and carried her off towards her warm bed with a smile of approval on his face. Re-experiencing the memory, as bad as it was had raised additional questions in Eleven's mind, _why did Papa check my neck like he checked the guards?_

“El?” Mike’s voice was enough to startle Eleven out of it “Are you okay?”  
Eleven found herself back where she had been standing, the cat had long since vanished and she was alone once again... But the three boys, her three friends were moving towards her. “Yeah, fine” she agreed and smiled, trying to cover up once again that she has been having a flashback  
“Hop on, El!” Mike exclaimed, watching her closely, clearly worried. Eleven jumped on the bike behind Mike and wrapped her arms around him. She guided the boys along a path that they knew all too well, a path that would lead them to Will’s house but the boys, other than a few wary worried glances kept that to themselves. 

“Here” Eleven stated once they reached Will's house to general uproar from the other boys  
“Will’s not here! He's missing from here!!” Mike had exclaimed in exasperation while Dustin and Lucas also protested  
Eleven kept quiet, she didn’t understand why the three boys were mad and had given up trying to repeat that Will was there, she simply didn't have the vocabulary to voice what she wanted to explain to the boys so she simply shut down at the boys’ yelling. 

After several moments of arguing and shouting Lucas noticed a large number of emergency vehicles speeding past the house heading in the direction of the quarry. “Will!!” Mike yelled  
Seeing the ambulances and police cars, Eleven's heart dropped, she feared and somehow knew it wouldn't end well. _oh no_


	13. The weirdo on Walker Drive

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Josafine is a little runaway

“Oh, shit. I hope Josafine calls soon” Audrey had mumbled to herself, she had found a news article regarding the missing boy, Will Byers. He had apparently been found in the quarry by a sketchy looking state trooper. Max was sat nearby on Audrey’s bed, she had taken Josafine running away badly and was still sniffling several hours after she found out, Audrey knew not much could make her cry but the disappearance of one of her friends definitely would be one of those things. Nobody had told her of Josafine’s disappearance initially but with the noise of search parties being formed nearby, she had found out the truth. Max had been taken to Audrey's to be looked after though no adult was stupid enough to use those words within Max's earshot, she hated being treated differently regardless of the necessity of doing so resulting from her heart condition

The phone in the house rung and Audrey, knowing her mom was out helping search for Josafine, ran downstairs and picked it up. “Hello?”  
“Audrey!”  
“Josie!!” Audrey lowered her voice as to not alert Max that she knew where Josafine was  
“Well, I'm in that place we talked about, I'm going to be meeting him soon”  
“Stay in touch, Josie”  
“Will do, I gotta go he should be arriving any minute”  
“Audrey? Who's that?” Max's voice echoed down the stairs as her feet thundered down the stairs  
“Uh someone trying to sell me a car” Audrey quickly made up a story to tell Max, she knew she'd have to tell Max sooner or later but she preferred it if she could wait until Josafine was either on her way back or was home, she knew Max was likely to freak out at the news that Audrey knew her friend had gone all the way to Sesser in Illinois. She quickly put the phone down, “how about we play a game??”  
Max had agreed with a shout, she wanted to teach Audrey more skateboarding tricks and soon the rest of the day had disappeared

Meanwhile, Josafine had met up with the strange man who she hoped would be able to find out what was going on. “You must be Jennifer?” he spoke directly to the young girl. He spoke in a quiet voice even though the park surrounding them was deserted regardless of the huge piles of leaves that needed kicking and jumping in by the local children, Josafine found their absence worrying  
“Yeah I am,” Josafine was proud of herself for creating a new identity to hide her own if things went south, “now... What the hell is going on you agreed to spill so hurry up and spill”  
“I didn't agree to meet up with a child”  
“Fuck that shit!” Josafine hissed, “my best friend might be in danger so you’re gonna fucking spill every bit of shit you know about what the hell has been happening in Hawkins!! Bauman, spit it out, or are you trying to tell me I wasted hundreds of dollars to come see an asshole?”  
Bauman sighed. “Fine, kiddo.” He launched straight into the story beginning with a young girl’s disappearance as stated in the newspapers Josafine and the others had already found. “I believed Terry Ives about her daughter's kidnapping and in fact I have already been plotting out the locations of each of the lab employees I know about in relation to the disappearances, they seem to match. I attempted a break into the lab and found some incredibly unusual setups like an electroshock machine turned up far too high for it to be used safely. I found personnel files as well in one of the offices...”  
“Can you remember the names?” Josafine interrupted knowing that it was the moment of truth. _This is it..._  
“Sure I can, Martin Brenner, he was the lead scientist.”  
_Yep know him, next._  
“Ray Carrol, the lead orderly. Kyle Thompson, the deputy head of security, unfortunately not much is known about the actual head of security. Natasha Jones, head nurse. Patrick Taylor, a senior security guard. Connie Frazier, their lead agent. Rick Schaeffer, and...”  
_Whoever the hell they are_  
“Neil Hargrove, their military guy.”  
Fuck.  
“Other people include Jason Shepard”  
“Son of a bitch!” Josafine interrupted Bauman before he could continue  
“You recognize one of those names?” Bauman asked  
“Hargrove” Josafine stated, “he's my best friend’s new stepdad” _I fucking knew it!!_  
“Well, shit”  
“And he wants the family to move to Hawkins”  
“Don't let him” Bauman warned the young girl, his tone far too serious to have been used with a kid under normal circumstances  
“I won't...” _Oh man, Max...!!_ Josafine was terrified, she knew she had to hurry back to California. She quickly thanked Bauman, giving him ten dollars for his time then she ran back to the same phone box she had used previously. Once someone picked up she went quiet  
“Hello?” it was Audrey's mother.  
Josafine quickly realized she had no way to contact Audrey to warn her so she had to hurry home. She put the phone back without saying a word. “SHIT!!”


	14. Will

“Will...” Mike had mouthed the single word, the name of his friend as a body was pulled from the water. It was a pretty harrowing scene even for the seasoned Chief of Police, Hopper and therefore it was nothing short of traumatic for the children who witnessed the body being pulled from the water. “You were supposed to help us find him alive!” Eleven was shocked out of her semi-stupor by Mike yelling at her, yelling that would undoubtedly attract too much attention. “You said he was alive! Why did you lie to us? What's wrong with you? What is wrong with you?” Mike began to run alongside his bike, away from Eleven and his friends  
“Mike - What? Mike, come on!” Lucas called  
“Don't do this, man,” Dustin added  
“Mike, Mike, where are you going? Mike! Mike!” Lucas and Dustin also had tears running down their faces as Mike disappeared off into the darkness, Lucas yelling at his retreating back. Eleven kept quiet, sorrowful that Mike was so distressed

“What are you kids doing here?” one of the firemen had returned to the fire truck the party had been hiding behind  
“Shit” Dustin mumbled while Lucas pulled Eleven behind him protectively  
“Do you need a ride back into town?” The fireman surprised them by not asking them what they were doing out at such a late hour  
“We should...” Lucas began  
“Sure!” Dustin glared at Lucas to shut him up, “it's a long ride back and we... We are too upset”  
“Did you know that kid?” the fireman inquired  
“Yeah, Will was our friend” Dustin explained, subdued  
“So sorry for your loss kids. Jump in, I'll take you back to town then” the fireman looked at the trio and they obliged, knowing that Eleven could probably throw the man if he tried anything

Ten minutes later he pulled up in the center of town and let the trio of kids out, “you sure you're gonna be okay from here?”  
“I'm certain of it” Lucas waved at the man and, recognizing the dismissal he started the truck up again and drove off.  
“C'mon, El, let's get you home” Dustin added and started walking back towards Mike’s. Eleven, upset by the turn of events lingered behind the boys as they led her back to Mike’s house. She didn't know how to express the fact that she still sensed Will. He wasn't dead, that much she was certain of. She had attempted to explain but the boys, Mike especially hadn't been receptive so she kept quiet  
“Mike will be okay, eventually” Dustin broke the awkward silence with an unusually somber voice, “El, it's not your fault”  
_It is, Dustin. It is my fault._ “Okay”

Several hours later Eleven and Mike sat in Mike’s basement, the latter still hadn't spoken to Eleven who was starting to get incredibly upset. She sat fiddling with Mike’s radio despite him repeatedly asking her not to. She reasoned that she could use it in a similar fashion to how Brenner had forced her to use her clairvoyance to listen to the people in the lab and other places but she couldn't work the radio. Furthermore, she was nervous to try and reach out to that place, the 'Upside Down’ since last time she had been forced to she had opened up the gate that allowed the predator into her world. Eventually, she plucked up the courage and managed to channel Will through the radio, he was singing a song which Eleven didn't recognize. “Is that... Is that...”  
“Will”


	15. Return to Cali

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Josafine returns to Cali after her excursion to Illinois

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Holy shit it's been awhile, I'm so sorry!

“Shit!!” Josafine tapped her foot impatiently while the bus carried her the last few hundred feet to the final stop, the one only a few feet from her house. “Come on, come on!” After what felt like an eternity the bus finally pulled over and stopped to let her out. Immediately, Josafine set off at a full on sprint towards Audrey's house. She noticed as she ran that a lot of people were still out and about with flashlights searching, she heard her name called more than once. Josafine managed to, in her desperation, increase her running speed thanks to the adrenaline coursing through her bloodstream. While Josafine ran she was actively attempting to avoid the people searching for her. She thanked her lucky stars as she ran that nobody was waiting at the bus stop to catch her though there were people nearby to the bus stop she had managed to evade them by hiding under a parked car for awhile until they had moved on soon after the bus left. 

Minutes later Josafine arrived at Audrey's house and awkwardly clambered her way up the side of the building with the help of a nearby tree. _Thank god..._  
Josafine tapped on the window for a few seconds then the curtains were pulled out of the way to reveal Audrey’s face which lit up immediately upon catching sight of the other girl. “Max!” Audrey hissed, “Max!” She knew she had to be quiet as her mom was one of the people coordinating the search for Josafine since someone had to stay at their home to look after Max and Audrey  
Max's confused face appeared right next to Audrey's and her confused worried expression faded away slowly to one of immense relief. Josafine had been gone for the majority of the day and Max was scared she’d never see her again, as it was it was fine midnight but both Max and Audrey had been too wired to sleep. “Josafine? Josafine!!” Max slid the window up and pulled the other girl into a massive hug. “You’re okay, you're okay.” She shook with suppressed sobs, she had been beside herself with worry for Josafine's safety since the older girl had simply vanished sometime early that morning  
“Max... It's important that you listen to me, now.” Josafine attempted to convey in her tone exactly how important it was for Max to listen. “I went to visit someone who lives in Illinois, Murray Bauman who was an investigative journalist for the Chicago Sun-Times. He confirmed our worst fears, your stepfather to be is involved in the Hawkins lab debacle. Neil was and maybe still is an employee of the lab and worked alongside them, some kind of military guy. Bauman gave me lots of scary shit about the lab, paperwork he acquired, some of which I read on the flight on the way back. You _must not_ let him take you to Hawkins, Max”

Max thought for a few moments then made a decision, “will you two help me run away from home?”  
“Max, we can't” Josafine replied  
“I need your help, girls!” Max exclaimed, terrified at the prospect of living with someone who worked at a place like that lab  
“What about your health, Max?” Audrey asked, knowing that it was the last thing Max wanted to think about  
“My health and safety would both be in danger if I went to that town with him!” Max hissed, aware that someone was passing her room  
“Uh huh. Max, have you seen your father recently?” Audrey questioned, following Max's lead with the tone and volume of her voice  
“No” Max replied dejectedly  
“We need to find him” Josafine decided, “maybe he'll be able to take custody of you or at least fight to take custody of you”  
“Worth a try, I guess. It might even delay us moving to Hawkins”  
“It might...” Josafine pondered  
“Josafine, you're the fittest, why don't you try to find out where Kenneth Mayfield is?” Audrey suggested  
“I'll follow Neil one day?” Josafine pondered, “but if I'm going to do that, it’s probably a good idea for me to get some kind of weapon”  
“Not sure that's a good idea, Josie” Max replied with a stern look  
“Not a gun, one of those electronic stun thingies, just for defense”  
“Well... I dunno, but if Neil is as much of an asshole as he acts toward his son, my stepbrother to be, Billy then it might be wise”  
“So it’s decided then?”  
“Uh huh. Josie, you just have to promise me one thing?”  
“What’s that?” Josafine smiled at Max, she'd promise that girl _anything_  
“That you'll be careful and that you'll come back alive”  
“I'll always come back to you, Max, _always_ ” Josafine promised

Five minutes later all three girls were changed into their pajamas and curled up in bed together, all three drifted off into deep sleep, all reassured by each others’ presence

**Author's Note:**

> Please give feedback and kudos:)


End file.
